Our reading today takes us to a trio of passages that express God’s character as a shepherd toward his people. Here’s what I would like us to do today. Read each passage and then take note of how Jesus is the perfect representation of each characteristic…
Shepherds and sheep are some of Scriptures favorite images for God and his people. We are the “people of his pasture” and “the sheep under his care” (Psalm 95:7; 100:3). Yahweh is the shepherd who can turn a deathly valley into a haven and cause his sheepdogs of mercy (hesed) and goodness pursue you all the days of your life…
Something isn’t right in these three parables of Jesus. Can you spot it? Each parable has something (or someone) that is lost and then found. Each of the three main characters rejoice in what they find…
Tensions were growing in these towns and villages as the early Jewish Christians continued to carry out their daily work, Sabbath observance, and participate in synagogue worship. The synagogue was at the heart of Jewish life in these towns, and the possibility of being expelled from the center of cultural life and experiencing very public rejection by friends and family would have rested heavy…
He doesn’t treat us like ne’er-do-wells, but instead has compassion upon us as a Father does his children (a concept which will crop up again in Luke 15 with the parable of the two sons)…
Jesus’ brilliant parable is only two verses long, yet it can stand alone as a work of literary art. But when we see it in the frame Luke alone provides, it leaps to another quantum level. His story provides a place for all of them: the woman as the great debtor, and Simon as the one who owed less…
Luke’s Gospel is the Gospel of Amazement. Everywhere that Jesus goes he leaves everyone “amazed,” “astonished,” “in awe,” “astounded,” and “spellbound.” People are surprised by him at every turn. After a while, you begin to wonder…
Notice the “earthiness” of Luke’s version. Go back and read it again. The man digs down deep. Can you hear the shovel tearing open the soil? The heavy thud as stones are set in place and the foundation takes form?…
In our parable, Jesus has been talking about how reality can run on two different tracks for people who are right beside each other in life. We have two builders who each approach constructing their homes with differing views of what makes for a good house…
